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The Presto Chart - April 2024

Presto Chart

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Chris O'Reilly
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Classical ChartYunchan Lim's much-praised recording of the Chopin Études (the young South Korean pianist's debut on Decca) was our most popular title in April, after featuring as our Recording of the Week on release-day and Gramophone's Recording of the Month several weeks later.

Sinfonia of London and John Wilson's second album of English music for strings enjoyed a resurgence of interest after being crowned Recording of the Year at the BBC Music Magazine Awards, and many of you invested in Decca's newly-remastered Solti Ring Cycle thanks to its inclusion in our hi-res download offer (which runs until 12th June). We spoke to sound-engineer Philip Siney and producer Dominic Fyfe about how they went about showcasing Solti's landmark achievement in all its glory last year.

No. 1 (new entry)

Yunchan Lim (piano)

Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 2 (new entry)

Nicky Spence (Gerontius), Anna Stéphany (The Angel), Andrew Foster-Williams (The Priest/Angel of the Agony)

Gabrieli, Polish National Youth Choir, Paul McCreesh

Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 3 (new entry)

JS Bach: A Life in Music Vol. 1

Arnstadt & Mühlhausen (1703-1708) - Early Cantatas

Benjamin Alard (harpsichord), Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew

Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 4 (new entry)

Kammerorchester Basel, Giovanni Antonini

Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 5 (new entry)

Isabelle Faust (violin), Alexander Melnikov (piano), Boris Faust (viola), Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Jakub Hrůša

Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 6 (new entry)

Orchestre National de France, Cristian Măcelaru

Available formats: 3 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 7 (new entry)

Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Sir Simon Rattle

Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 8 (No. 3 in 2022 chart)

Mitsuko Uchida (piano)

Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 9 (new entry)

Daniil Trifonov (piano), Sergei Babayan (piano)

Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 10 (No. 1 in 2022 chart)

Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Klaus Mäkelä

Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 11 (new entry)

Sabine Devieilhe (soprano), Mathieu Pordoy (piano)

Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 12 (No. 2 in 2023 chart)

Sinfonia of London, John Wilson

Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 13 (new entry)

Kate Aldrich (Déjanire), Anaïs Constans (Iole), Julien Dran (Hercule), Jérôme Boutillier (Philoctète), Anna Dowsley (Phénice)

Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Chœur de l’Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Kazuki Yamada

Available formats: 2 CDs + Book, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 14 (No. 9 in July 2023)

Birgit Nilsson (Brünnhilde), Wolfgang Windgassen (Siegfried), Gottlob Frick (Hagen), Gustav Neidlinger (Alberich), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Gunther), Claire Watson (Gutrune), Christa Ludwig (Waltraute)

Wiener Philharmoniker, Sir Georg Solti

Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 15 (new entry)

BBC Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Albany Symphony Orchestra, George Lloyd

Available formats: 4 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)

No. 16 (new entry)

Elizabeth Watts (soprano), Alice Coote (mezzo), Allan Clayton (tenor), London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle

Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 17 (new entry)

The King’s Consort, Robert King

Available format: CD

No. 18 (new entry)

Czech Philharmonic, Jiří Bělohlávek

Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 19 (new entry)

ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop

Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 20 (No. 4 last month)

Czech Philharmonic, Semyon Bychkov

Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 21 (new entry)

Jakub Józef Orliński (Orfeo), Fatma Said (Amore), Elsa Dreisig (Euridice), Il Giardino d’Amore, Stefan Plewniak

Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 22 (No. 9 in 2021 chart)

Janine Jansen (violin), Antonio Pappano (piano)

Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 23 (No. 15 in December 2022)

Birgit Nilsson (Brünnhilde), Hans Hotter (Wotan), Régine Crespin (Sieglinde), James King (Siegmund), Christa Ludwig (Fricka), Gottlob Frick (Hunding)

Wiener Philharmoniker, Sir Georg Solti

Available formats: 4 SACDs, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 24 (new entry)

George London (Wotan), Kirsten Flagstad (Fricka), Claire Watson (Freia), Set Svanholm (Loge), Waldemar Kmentt (Froh), Eberhard Wächter (Donner), Paul Kuen (Mime), Jean Madeira (Erda), Gustav Neidlinger (Alberich), Walter Kreppel (Fasolt), Kurt Böhme (Fafner)

Wiener Philharmoniker, Sir Georg Solti

Available formats: 2 SACDs, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)

No. 25 (new entry)

Sinfonia of London, John Wilson

Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)

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